MRSA infection
is caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria — often called "staph".
Decades ago, a strain of staph emerged in hospitals that was resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. Dubbed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), it was one of the first germs to outwit all but the most powerful drugs. MRSA infection can be fatal. Staph bacteria are normally found on the skin or in the nose of about one-third of the population. If you have staph on your skin or in your nose but aren't sick, you are said to be "colonized" but not infected with MRSA. Healthy people can be colonized with MRSA and have no ill effects. However, they can pass the germ to others.
Staph bacteria are generally harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound, and even then they often cause only minor skin problems in healthy people. But in older adults and people who are ill or have weakened immune systems, ordinary staph infections can cause serious illness.
In the 1990s, a type of MRSA began showing up in the wider community. Today, that form of staph, known as community-associated MRSA or CA-MRSA, is responsible for many serious skin and soft tissue infections and for a serious form of pneumonia. MRSA infections occur in approximately 94,000 persons each year and are associated with approximately 19,000 deaths. Of these infections, about 86% are healthcare-associated and 14% are community-associated.
Staph infections, including MRSA, generally start as small red bumps that resemble pimples, boils or spider bites. These can quickly turn into deep painful abscesses that require surgical draining. Sometimes the bacteria remain confined to the skin. But they can also burrow deep into the body, causing potentially life-threatening infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs.
Causes
From what we have learned, these are the known causes of MRSA:
Unnecessary antibiotic use in humans. Like other superbugs, MRSA is the result of decades of
excessive and unnecessary antibiotic use. For years, antibiotics have been prescribed for colds, flu and other viral infections that don't respond to these drugs, as well as for simple bacterial infections that normally clear on their own.
Antibiotics found in our food and water supply. Prescription drugs aren't the only source of antibiotics. In the United States, antibiotics can be found in beef cattle, pigs and chickens. The same antibiotics then find their way into municipal water systems when the runoff from feedlots contaminates streams and groundwater. Consuming food from tainted livestock is a primary way of getting antibiotics into the human body. Routine feeding of antibiotics to animals is allowed in the United States. Antibiotics given in the proper doses to animals who are sick don't appear to produce resistant bacteria.
Germ mutation. Even when antibiotics are used appropriately, they contribute to the rise of drug-resistant bacteria because they don't destroy every germ they target. Germs that survive treatment with one antibiotic soon learn to resist others. And because bacteria mutate much more quickly than new drugs can be produced, some germs end up resistant to just about everything. That's why only a handful of drugs are now effective against most forms of staph.
Risk factors
Because hospital and community strains of MRSA generally occur in different settings, the risk factors for the two strains differ.
Risk factors for hospital-acquired (HA) MRSA include:
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A current or recent hospitalization. MRSA remains a concern in hospitals where it can attack those most vulnerable — older adults and people with weakened immune systems, burns, surgical wounds or serious underlying health problems. A 2007 report from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology estimates that 1.2 million hospital patients are infected with MRSA each year in the United States. They also estimate another 423,000 are colonized with it.
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Residing in a long-term care facility. MRSA is far more prevalent in these facilities than it is in hospitals. Carriers of MRSA have the ability to spread it, even if they're not sick themselves.
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Invasive devices. People who are on dialysis, are catheterized, or have feeding tubes or other invasive devices are at higher risk.
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Recent antibiotic use. Treatment with fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin or levofloxacin) or cephalosporin antibiotics can increase the risk of HA-MRSA.
These are the main risk factors for community-acquired (CA) MRSA:
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Young age. CA-MRSA can be particularly dangerous in children. Often entering the body through a cut or scrape, MRSA can quickly cause a wide spread infection. Children may be susceptible because their immune systems aren't fully developed or they don't yet have antibodies to common germs. Children and young adults are also much more likely to develop dangerous forms of pneumonia than older people are.
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Participating in contact sports. CA-MRSA has crept into both amateur and professional sports teams. The bacteria spread easily through cuts and abrasions and skin-to-skin contact.
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Sharing towels or athletic equipment. Although few outbreaks have been reported in public gyms, CA-MRSA has spread among athletes sharing razors, towels, uniforms or equipment.
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Having a weakened immune system. People with weakened immune systems, including those living with HIV/AIDS, are more likely to have severe CA-MRSA infections.
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Living in crowded or unsanitary conditions. Outbreaks of CA-MRSA have occurred in military training camps and in American and European prisons.
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Association with health care workers. People who are in close contact with health care workers are at increased risk of serious staph infections.
Conventional Prevention
Hospitals are fighting back against MRSA infection by using surveillance systems that track bacterial outbreaks and by investing in products such as antibiotic-coated catheters and gloves that release disinfectants.
Still, the best way to prevent the spread of germs is for health care workers to wash their hands frequently, to properly disinfect hospital surfaces and to take other precautions such as wearing a mask when working with people with weakened immune systems.
In the hospital, people who are infected or colonized with MRSA are placed in isolation to prevent the spread of MRSA to other patients and healthcare workers. Visitors and healthcare workers caring for isolated patients may be required to wear protective garments and must follow strict hand washing procedures
Protecting yourself from MRSA in your community — which might be just about anywhere — may seem daunting, but these common-sense precautions can help reduce your risk:
Wash your hands. Careful hand washing remains your best defense against germs. Scrub hands briskly for at least 15 seconds, then dry them with a disposable towel and use another towel to turn off the faucet. Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer containing at least 62 percent alcohol for times when you don't have access to soap and water.
Keep personal items personal. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, sheets, razors, clothing and athletic equipment. MRSA spreads on contaminated objects as well as through direct contact.
Keep wounds covered. Keep cuts and abrasions clean and covered with sterile, dry bandages until they heal. The pus from infected sores may contain MRSA, and keeping wounds covered will help keep the bacteria from spreading.
Shower after athletic games or practices. Shower immediately after each game or practice. Use soap and water. Don't share towels.
Sit out athletic games or practices if you have a concerning infection. If you have a wound that's draining or appears infected — for example is red, swollen, warm to the touch or tender — consider sitting out athletic games or practices until the wound has healed.
Sanitize linens. If you have a cut or sore, wash towels and bed linens in a washing machine set to the "hot" water setting (with added bleach, if possible) and dry them in a hot dryer. Wash gym and athletic clothes after each wearing.
Get tested. If you have a skin infection that requires treatment, ask your doctor if you should be tested for MRSA. Doctors may prescribe drugs that aren't effective against antibiotic-resistant staph, which delays treatment and creates more resistant germs. Testing specifically for MRSA may get you the specific antibiotic you need to effectively treat your infection.
Use antibiotics appropriately. When you're prescribed an antibiotic, take all of the doses, even if the infection is getting better. Don't stop until your doctor tells you to stop. Don't share antibiotics with others or save unfinished antibiotics for another time. Inappropriate use of antibiotics, including not taking all of your prescription and overuse, contributes to resistance. If your infection isn't improving after a few daysof taking an antibiotic, contact your doctor.
DNR Products and MRSA
It seems clear that good hygienic habits, stopping excessive or unnecessary antibiotic usage and keeping the body's immune system strong are the best ways to keep from contracting MRSA or staph infections in general. DNR, Inc. products can be valuable tools to assist the body's natural abilities in fighting off invading pathogens and infections. DNR researchers have recognized the body's need for a stable and balanced electrical system. It is the body's nervous system that initiates the electrical signals that bring about the electrochemical responses that insure the body's organs, glands and systems will function correctly. It is the electrical capacity in the body's brain cells that trigger communication back and forth between the nervous system and immune system.
Without balanced free-flowing electrical impulses moving throughout the body, the immune system cannot effectively deal with invading parasites, bacteria, viruses or disease. Without balanced free-flowing electrical impulses moving throughout the body, we would become nothing more than a mindless stationary object. Research demonstrates the body's need for an electrochemically balanced energy source in order to maintain health and extend its ability to heal itself. When the body is toxic and out of balance, it cannot manifest the necessary vitality that is needed to maximize all its systems. When the body's subtle energy movement is blocked or insufficient, its organs and glands become starved of the vitality and energy needed to carry on their life-sustaining functions.
Your body can only heal itself when it is in balance and ample energy moves freely throughout the body. It must be able to release and remove chemical or metallic toxins and maintain enough vitality and energy to support its healing and immune system capabilities.
DNR light-energized products are formulated to help the body:
Increase its own vitality - Your vital organs require an ample and constant flow of energy.
Support balance and rebalance when necessary - Your body simply cannot heal itself when it is out of balance.
Unblock and maintain free flowing energy movement - Blocked energy pathways are a major cause of many illnesses and diseases.
Strengthen its own healing and immune system - Not only getting well, but staying well is an important function of the immune system.
Release and remove chemical and toxic waste buildup - Because of the environment and available food sources, none of us are free from toxicity.
Without balanced free-flowing electrical impulses moving throughout the body, the immune system cannot effectively deal with invading parasites, bacteria, viruses or disease. Without balanced free-flowing electrical impulses moving throughout the body, we would become nothing more than a mindless stationary object. Research demonstrates the body's need for an electrochemically balanced energy source in order to maintain health and extend its ability to heal itself. When the body is toxic and out of balance, it cannot manifest the necessary vitality that is needed to maximize all its systems. When the body's subtle energy movement is blocked or insufficient, its organs and glands become starved of the vitality and energy needed to carry on their life-sustaining functions.